Monarchs Make It Eight Straight Against Lowell
January 21, 2003 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Manchester Monarchs News Release
Manchester, NH - Goaltender Cristobal Huet stopped every shot he faced, and Eric Healey, defenseman Mike Pudlick and wing Chris Schmidt each scored as the Manchester Monarchs extended their home unbeaten streak to five games with a 3-0 win over the Lowell Lock Monsters on Tuesday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena. The win was the Monarchs second in a row overall and eighth in a row over their archrivals to the south.
Huet earned his first American Hockey League shutout by stopping all 25 Lowell shots. Entering play, the Monarchs 14 times this season had held the opposition to just one goal but had not recorded a shutout. On Tuesday, one goal for the Monarchs was more than enough as Huet continued his personal dominance in the Lowell season series by improving his record to 6-0-0 vs. Lock Monsters with a miniscule 1.16 goals against average and equally impressive .952 save percentage.
Manchester and Lowell skated to a scoreless opening period while attempting a combined ten shots. The Monarchs, ranked second in the AHL with an average of three and a half goals per game, found their offense midway through the second stanza when Healey beat goaltender Patrick DesRochers with a nasty wrist shot from the slot. Rookie winger Dan Welch and defenseman Chris Bogas assisted on Healey's 16th goal this season.
Huet held the Lock Monsters scoreless after 40 minutes by turning away ten shots in the second period. But his biggest save of the night occurred early in the third period with the Monarchs still holding a slim one-goal lead. The Monarchs were enjoying a man-advantage when Lowell winger Brent McDonald forced a turnover and skated into the Monarchs zone on a breakaway. McDonald's backhand try was snuffed out by Huet's left pad.
The Monarchs added to their lead three minutes later when Pudlick blasted Jerred Smithson's pass into the net for a power play goal, his sixth of the season, at 7:10. The power play goal was the first in four games for the Monarchs, who still own the top-rated power play unit in the AHL. Schmidt added and empty net goal with 90 seconds left on the clock to complete the scoring.
The Los Angeles Kings, the parent club of the Monarchs, Tuesday recalled defenseman Tomas Zizka. Zizka, 23, leads the Monarchs blue line attack with 10 goals, 22 assists and 32 points in 36 games. Zizka, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound native of Sternbeck, Czech Republic, also leads the Monarchs with a plus-13 rating, and he'll have a chance to make his NHL debut when the Kings play in Anaheim against the Mighty Ducks on Wednesday night. A sixth round selection (163rd overall) of the Kings in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, Zizka ranks second in the AHL in defenseman scoring with his 32 points and third in the AHL in goals with 10
The Monarchs are on the road for a pair of weekend games, starting on Friday, January 24 when they travel to Portland, ME to take on the Portland Pirates. Game time Friday is set for 7:05 p.m. The Monarchs next home game is scheduled for Friday, January 31 at the Verizon Wireless Arena when they host the Hartford Wolf Pack at 7:35 p.m. The first 3,000 fans at that game will receive a free Monarchs T-Shirt, courtesy of Crowley Foods. For ticket information to future Monarchs games, call (603) 626-7825.
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American Hockey League Stories from January 21, 2003
- Bears Fall to Wilkes Barre/Scranton, 3-2 - Hershey Bears
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- Monarchs Make It Eight Straight Against Lowell - Manchester Monarchs
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- Atlanta Sends Farkas to Wolves - Chicago Wolves
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- Wednesday is Switcharoo Night - Adirondack Phantoms
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- Aeros Unbeaten in 10 at Home - Houston Aeros
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- Admirals Face Rampage Wednesday - Milwaukee Admirals
- Admirals Update - Norfolk Admirals
- Crunch Announce Details of Eagle Newspapers Crunch Community Man of the Year Program - Syracuse Crunch
- Pirates Announce Labatt Blue All-Time Team - Portland Pirates
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